How do I disable Quick Look for URL shortcuts?

When searching for something in Spotlight Search, if spotlight finds a URL shortcut it immediately interrupts my typing, closes the Spotlight Search input, and present the prompt:


"You can’t navigate within Quick Look. Do you want to open this item?"



Problems this causes:

1) I am unable to search for anything once this triggers. This means I cannot search for anything that also matches on a URL shortcut result.

2) The dialog, which I cannot seem to disable, is NOT focused by default, and hence I have to leave the keyboard and mouse click to to 'cancel', or to open if I actually want to open the link. This is SUPER inefficient.


Solutions:

1) BEST: Allow users to disable Quick Look for URL shortcuts.

2) SATISFACTORY: Allow users to disable Quick Look for Spotlight Search.

3) BEGRUDGINGLY TOLERABLE WORKAROUND UNTIL ITS FIXED: Disable Quick Look entirely on macOS.


The current behavior is super inefficient and adds zero value.


Posted on Jun 4, 2020 10:11 AM

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8 replies

Jun 4, 2020 2:42 PM in response to Barney-15E

Unfortunately, that is the landing page. Quick Look appears to be having an issue with the Okta 2-factor auth.


With Wuick Look being a security Luddite it should offer the ability to be disabled for solutions where it’s capabilities are far too simple to do the right thing.


I think I’ve discovered an interim fix, booting into safe mode and deleting the Bookmark.qlgenerator


In theory, Quick Look will stop thinking it knows best and leave links alone.


Jun 4, 2020 12:04 PM in response to Barney-15E

Drag a URL from your browser into a Directory in Finder, which will create a file with the .webloc extension.


Spotlight will then index this file. Once that has been done, perform a Spotlight Search that will match on this file.


If the Shortcut has any kind of interaction, like a landing page on Okta.com, it behaves badly – as documented above.


Quick Look desperately needs a 'exclude' capability that matches on either File Type (extension) or individual files that it doesn't work well with (there are many documented Quick Look issues on here and StackOverflow with people looking for ways to hide files from Quick Look).


Blocking Quick Look from certain files types in Spotlight would be fantastic.

Jun 4, 2020 4:39 PM in response to NathanPearce

Unfortunately, that is the landing page.

What is the "landing page?"

I don't have any problem with QuickLook and webloc files.

I cannot replicate your problem, but I'm not sure I'm replicating the conditions.


If you want me to investigate further, you'll have to give me a link to the page you are having issues with.

I had no issue with the login page or some random page on the site.

Jun 5, 2020 3:45 PM in response to Barney-15E

I can't post my unlisted corporate portal address on a public forum, nor give you access to my login so you can replicate. You do get why I won't do that, right?


So you're testing Quick Look against webloc files found through Spotlight Search against Okta delivered MFA resources, as mentioned above, and having no problems?


It appears to be specific to Okta MFA dashboards with Google G-Suite authentication.

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How do I disable Quick Look for URL shortcuts?

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